A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.10

c19.s2.10

Last but by no means least of the Śaiva saints of this period who earned themselves an abiding place in the literature and hearts of the Tamils was Māṇikka-vāśagar whose *Tiruvāśagam* forms the eighth book of the canon, to which some would add his *Tirukkōvai* also. The transparent sincerity of the passionate outpourings of the saint in the *Tiruvāśagam* makes a deep impression on the reader's mind, and the fifty-one hymns, in spite of their many strange mythical allusions, strike him as a true record of a vivid religious experience which traces the progress of a soul from the bondage of passion and ignorance to the liberty of light and love. The supreme power of divine grace to liberate the soul is the main theme. Some would trace Christian influences in the trend of the saint's thought and feeling; the parallel with some aspects of Christian experience is clear enough, but of any direct borrowing there is no proof; and on the whole the differences are more important than the resemblances. The *Tirukkōvai* is among the earliest of the full-fledged *kōvais* which treat of love in a schematic poem of 400 stanzas, each depicting a particular situation. Māṇikka-vāśagar's poem has a double meaning throughout, the main theme being the love of the soul for God. Some are inclined to doubt the authorship of the poem, which is, however, marked by a devotional intensity not unworthy of the author of the *Tiruvāśagam*, though its diction is less popular. The *Kārikkōvai* of Kāri-nāyaṉār and the *Muttaraiyar-kōvai* mentioned in the commentary to the *Yāpparungalam* (tenth century) may be earlier than *Tirukkōvai*, but they are no longer extant; and the *Pāndikkōvai*, also perhaps an earlier poem, is available only in numerous citations.